Hello...

So, not quite a year since I've posted here. When I last posted, I was about to begin Hep C treatment. You can read that story here. Long story short, I am healed. I've tested negative for a viral load since last September, my first check after beginning treatment. I have one more blood test, in 2 weeks, after which the doctors will consider me cured.

We're all introverts here, and staying home while I felt bad during treatment got us into a do-nothing rut. It's been nice to reach out lately and meet new people, have new experiences. I went out for coffee with some friends last night. I enjoyed that so much. It's something I just don't do much. Well, really, it's something I've now done exactly twice.

Hubby is still dealing with back pain. He had spinal fusion surgery in October, and is healing slowly. I hate seeing him in pain everyday. It's not bad everyday, but he is always in pain. He amazes me. He still gets up and goes to work while Son & I sleep even though he's in pain. His office operates on a 4 day work week, and most weeks he works 3 days. Thankfully, he can make up some of that time working from home. His job has gotten stressful. The company he works for was in charge of debris removal from drainage areas after hurricane Gustav in '08. Not long after, the bill was rejected by FEMA. It was a case of "we're from the government and we're here to help." Let's just say FEMA is stupid and won't pay. So the bill then goes to our parish (county). The parish "president" cries foul, says he never okayed most of the stuff done, he didn't know what was going on, back pedaling, not my job, etc. Sorry dude, but it WAS your job, and your job only. The fight was played out in the local paper and Hubby's company was really drug through the mud (not to mention the 4 million dollars they are out), and the company is struggling to keep business. Hubby's job is not directly threatened by this, but he takes on the burden anyway. This was a drainage issue, and he is THE drainage engineer in the parish. Work just isn't fun for him anymore. And still he goes, in pain. The people he works for are really good people and they've done so much for us in the last 9 years.

Son is really blossoming. He'll be 14 in a few days, and he's officially taller than I now. He's also taken on daily bike riding and guitar playing. He's gotten very good and comfortable with both. In April, he decided to be baptized. He then decided to get involved with the teen ministry at our church. They have a Wednesday night service, where he learned about the summer internship program - Tuesday & Thursday from 8AM to 5PM, and Sunday mornings 9 - 12:30. Throw in the Friday night recovery program I attend, & my car's making 7 trips to church a week! But it's worth it to see the enjoyment he's getting out of it. He's making new friends and growing in his faith. And I am getting used to letting go a bit.

I've been trying to grow my soap site without any money to do so. I've never wanted it to become a job, taking up everyday, but I need to have more sales to justify the web site and supplies I have to buy. I do have a facebook page, and have several "likes" from people I don't know, so that's good. But I'm still not reaching enough people.

I'm also beginning to get back into photography. I got out of the habit of carrying my camera with me, and need to get back to it. I forget how much I love photography. I love to take candids, of people and of wildlife. I love "wait for it" images - setting up and just waiting for the perfect moment to capture. I used to love to just go driving to find things to photograph. The heat and the cost of gas limit that now, but I still need to get out and do it now and then.

My baby...

Lately...

So Friday I will begin treatment for Hep C. If you'd like to follow that story, please visit my healing blog.

But I've not just been preparing for treatment. I've been very aware that we now have a schooler 2 doors down. It's a rental house and the family has an 18yo son and a 13yo daughter. Every afternoon, about 3:05, the bus comes down our street. Yuck. The sound makes me queasy. Nope, the bus was not a fun part of my day.

And so many friends on FB posting about back to school. I know, we are a minority, but it's just so "in your face". I'd imagine this is how my non-participating friends feel at Christmas time. Part of the angst is that we aren't active with an homeschool groups right now. We belong to 2, and they have email groups, but we've not gone on an outing in several months. The last one was to go ice skating. Truth is, G's just not interested. He's more of an introvert than his dad and I are. He has his 3 friends that spend weekends here, and he has many cyber friends as well. For now, that's meeting his social needs.

Very recently he's come to me bored a few times. Poor kid can't wait to have a job. For the money, of course, but also to have the responsibility. He's taken on a lot of little jobs at home, which is nice since I'll probably need him a bit more while in HepC treatment. He's just so mature for his age, and it's hard even for me to remember he's *only* 13. Being 5' 4" tall doesn't help! He and I are nearly eye to eye now. And if I call home, I have to ask, "what are you doing?" before I know if I'm talking to my hubby or my son.

Speaking of hubby, he's going to have back surgery again before the end of the year. It's bad. He can hardly walk. His leg muscles are just gone. He's waiting to see how I do with treatment before scheduling his surgery. This will be more invasive than the last. He'll spend 3 or 4 days in the hospital, and then be in bed at home for 3 weeks.

And my poor darling lost his grandmother 2 weeks ago. She was just a month shy of 90, and lived at home, on her own, until her last hospital stay. She went peacefully. After my MIL died 12 years ago, Grandma really became all the more a treasure to us. She was G's only great-grandparent, and I knew her longer than I knew any of my own grandparents. I'm thankful for all of the trips we were able to make to see her. She was about 2.5 hrs away and the trip was rough on hubby's back. We saw her last in March.

Why?

Why do adults think berating their children is small talk? I get ill standing in check-out lines hearing the complaints; "they'd play games all day if I'd let them", "they complain about school", "I cant wait for school/summer camp to start", "I could never spend everyday with my kids". So why did you have those kids? To send them away as soon and as often as possible? To have someone to control? To make yourself feel powerful?

It's bad enough when this disgusting banter is just among adults. But when I see little ones at their feet as they spew this garbage, it kills me. What kind of message are they hearing? "You can't control yourself," "I don't trust you," "I don't like being with you." Wow. How very sad. All of this negativity gets internalized whether you think they hear it or not (they do hear it and it doesn't go over their heads). "I can't control myself." "I cannot be trusted." "I am not worth spending time with."

I do not believe in praising every little thing a child does. That can be just as damaging, setting a standard that no child feels they can retain. "I have to be better."

Every child is an individual, God-created to be a unique person with unique talents and needs. I believe in guiding children, assisting them, to learn what those talents and needs are and to honor them. Take the time to get to know your child, and allow yourself to enjoy them just as they are.

February?

How did the month of January go by so quickly? I still have Christmas lights hanging outside, and the decorations are still waiting to go in the attic. We've had unseasonably warm days and ridiculously cold days. Today is too cold for me. Our little house just can't warm up.

The boy continues to grow at a ridiculous rate. He will pass me up soon. My shoes are too small for him! He had a bad round of the flu. Not that any flu is good, he was just very sick for several days. So was his dad. I take many more supplements than they are willing to take so I was only sick for 3 days and considered it a bad cold. But they were both much sicker than I. They are taking their D3 vitamins now! Poor Greg still can't hear from fluid in his ears - he ended up at the doctor's office with an infection.

Speaking of supplements, I started going to the chiropractor in December. Well, to go back a bit further I had been in pain all over for several months. Joint pain, bone pain, headaches, and uveitis. In August my eye doctor recommended I see a rheumatologist. I pretty much blew that off because of the cost. Then Greg had a kidney stone in September for which he had to have lithotripsy, so our deductible was met. I had uveitis flares in October and November so I made an appointment w/the rheumatologist - in mid-December. By Thanksgiving I was just miserable with pain. Getting out of bed was painful. Rolling over in bed was painful. It took a long time each day for me to be able to move around from the stiffness. I was ready for medication. Nothing I was doing was helping.

I figured it wouldn't hurt anything, so I finally called for a chiropractic appointment. I got in that day and saw him 4 times that first week. He sees the supplements I'm taking and asks about how much fish oil I was taking. At the time, I was taking 2 capsules a day, if I remembered. He said to start taking much more - like 8 or 10 a day, for inflammation. That was cheap and safe enough to try, so I began taking 3 capsules 3 times a day. Within 2 weeks of supplements and adjustments I was 80% - 90% better. I did a little research and found that ginger is also good for treating inflammation so I began taking that 3 caps/3x daily as well.

Two months into it, I have no joint pain and very very little pain in my right leg (this was excruciating for a long while). I'm now seeing the chiropractor every 2 weeks and still pain free. If I feel a twinge of pain coming on, I take more fish oil instead of a pain reliever. I had a uveitis flare for about a week in January, but it didn't last as long or hurt as constantly as in the past. Oh, and I've lost 10 pounds too. Yes, I am moving a bit more because of the lack of pain and maybe I'm not snacking so much (since I know that processed foods make inflammation worse), but I've not done enough of either to explain 10 pounds. I wonder if the inflammation in my body was actually adding weight, or if perhaps the fish oils are changing my metabolism. I'm not finding any info referring to either. I'm not really concerned about the cause, just curious. :)

As for the rheumatologist, I have a follow-up apointment in March, 12 weeks after the initial appointment. I had 7 vials of blood drawn and over a dozen x-rays that day and I've not been contacted about any results. That leaves me to believe that this doctor thinks 12 weeks is an acceptable waiting time for test results. Not my idea of a good doctor, not even a decent one. So I'll be contacting his nurse to get my lab results and cancelling my follow-up. I think God planned for me to see both doctors while I financially was able. I've seen the difference in how I am treated and know I do not need the drugs I was originally going to the rheumatologist to get.

Mini Me

I have always enjoyed watching for Greg's personality traits in our son. He is most definitely his father's son. As I spend my days with him, I sometimes see my father, Greg's brother, even my father-in-law in him. But I've recently begun to see and allow myself to appreciate the me in him. He loves music (well, he gets that from us both). He's endlessly creative.

He's constantly rearranging his bedroom (a passion of mine). He wants an apartment in the garage (yes this is the same child who shared our bed until he was 9). He's settled for setting up his closet as a bedroom, thus leaving the rest of his room as his apartment. "Now, I come out of my 'room' and there's still another door before I get to you." I remember trying to make a clubhouse out of my closet. I remember all of the arranging ideas that I knew better than to try.

Thank you God for my memories. For the memories of what I wanted to do, and the memories of the feeling of not being allowed to try much. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this incredible child's life. It really is an honor, and I don't want to ever forget that, not even momentarily.

It worked!

Monday night @ midnight, Fallout: New Vegas was released (video game), and the night owls that we are were there to pick up the game. Gregory had a friend over, and Tuesday afternoon Hubby told him he needed to at least make an offer for the friend to play (bless his heart, he's used to having to wait for his turn & never even asked to play). Next thing I know, Landon (friend) is playing and Gregory is pouting and exuding negative energy. I assumed it was because he felt he had to hand the game over. I called him over to me to talk about it.

He sat down, face parallel to the floor, and I asked what the problem was. He just shook his head no and didn't speak. I didn't relent. He (& his dad) know by now that when I ask, "what's wrong?" I don't let it go. After a minute or so, with a cracking voice he says he's so stupid. I wasn't expecting that. I asked why he felt that way and he said he'd been playing for 2 hours without saving, and his character got killed, so he lost everything he'd done in that 2 hours. His broken heart was so heavy.

I picked up his chin with my hand and stared him in the eye. I told him he's not stupid and he responded "yes I am", several times. I started telling him he's not stupid, he made a mistake. That when I forget to buy tea bags (a hot commodity in the house) it didn't make me stupid. Told him I wouldn't allow someone else to be so mean to him, and I wasn't going to let him do it either. Looking him straight in the eye, I told him how smart, how capable, how lovable he is. Then I told him, "You are a smart, good person. Say it." He mumbled it quickly. "Again!" I said. He repeated. "Again!" "I'm a smart, good person." "Again!"...

After a couple of minutes, he was grinning while saying it, and then giggling. "Again!" With a smile on his face he says, "You know this is torture, right?" "Yep! Again!" We ended up laughing so hard our sides hurt. And most importantly, he was no longer believing the lies his "self" was telling him.

Thank you God for allowing me to be in and stay in the moment with him, and for the ability to help him out of a pit. Allow me to remember this lesson (what I thought he was upset about vs. the real reason) and the honor of watching him grow through it.

You didn't see anything...

Yeah, I'm going to pretend that I haven't gone 9 months without posting.

Yesterday, Vivian's baby sister Alden was born. Alena's baby sister will be born anyday now. Gregory turned 12 in July. Chase and Kayla are now 11. Mikey is 4 and going to school. JoJo just turned 3, and Stella will be 3 soon too. Alena is 2 and just too cute! Her mommy says anytime anyone knocks at their door, she goes running down the hall yelling, "Nana's here! Nana's here!" (I'm Nana)

Now you are up to date on the important stuff. :)

Thursday

Greg stayed home from work Monday, and that always messes me up on my days of the week. Today most certainly didn’t feel like a Thursday. Last night's chicken w/shrimp cream sauce turned into tonight's dinner instead. I'd forgotten that yesterday was payday, and that's our night to eat out. So we had roast beef po-boys instead.

Greg's back is really hurting him again. He's had another MRI and it shows scar tissue. It doesn't look too much different than the first MRI. It's so disheartening to see him in pain at all. He went through so much last year. He's going to have physical therapy and he's taking an anti-inflammatory med that does help his pain. It kills me to see him limp off to work some mornings. He's quite a trooper. His surgeon says if the therapy and meds don't do the job, he'll have to have surgery again. This time they'd remove the disc and fuse the vertebrae.

Gregory started playing World of Warcraft today. He's been wanting to get started at it, but needed to wait for the new computer. He's really enjoying his online gaming friends. I think G will have friends over this weekend. My friend Brandie has a son who turned 13 yesterday and another who's 11 (2 of 6 kids!), and they love to sleep over. It's neat to see how differently Gregory relates to them. The older only wants to play video games. G loves his games, but he likes to do other stuff when he has a friend over too. He actually gets along with the 11 yo better because he'll play anything. They still do a lot of imaginary play - still use old costumes. They'll even make videos while he's here of short stories they make up themselves.

I didn't get very much done today. Got my plants watered, but nothing more than that. One of the many things that happened while I wasn't writing was the drowning death of Vivian, 2yo daughter of a friend of mine. You can imagine how difficult it's been the past 3 months. Her mother Lisa is keeping a journal at caring bridge. It's been a lesson in so many things to see how this family is creating a new normal in their lives. The family has taken down the pool and will be planting a memorial garden there. They've asked friends to bring plants for the garden. I'm grateful for something physical I can do to help. I've been debating what to give her. I'm pretty good at keeping plants alive, but cuttings are not my talent. Today I can across a small piece of begonia growing among some weeds. It's the perfect size and will require very little care.

Well, I titled this Thursday, but it's been Friday for almost 2 hours now. Goodnight all!

Back to normal????

I don't know what that is anymore. We've been in our own little world for the past 4 months, and leaving that is hard.

Greg didn't go to work this morning because his stomach was bothering him. I have no doubt his stomach felt aweful, but I believe it's pure anxiety. Last week he was anxious to prove he could get back to work. Now he's just anxious, and not in a good way. He left a very high stress world for a while, and getting back into it is hard. I know, I've done it. Or tried to do it I should say. It didn't work out for me.

He just left for the afternoon about a half-hour ago and I miss him so much I am at the point of tears. I think he was at that point when he left. We've never spent much time apart, and we'd both gotten used to being together all the time. And for the past 4 months my main focus has been taking care of Greg. Now I'm feeling a little lost. I miss him so much I have no motivation to do anything. He really is my heart and my best friend.

Greg loves his job. He loves the work he does and the people he works with. They are like a family, and like any family, day-to-day there can be problems and conflicts, but overall he's very happy there. And we're happy he's there. He works for & with good people who've done a lot for us these past few months. And he's less than a mile from home so he comes home for lunch everyday. But it's a stressful job. Getting used to that stress level took time, and it will take time to get used to again. I want to do everything I can to help him. So I want to make home a refuge, but that means cleaning and sorting and organizing. All things I'm not really motivated to do now.

Gregory has the best outlook of us all. He's loved every minute of having his dad home. But as Greg was leaving, he was doing his happy dance. I asked what he was so happy about and he replied, "It means we're getting our lives back!"

Merry Christmas!

So much for blogging everyday in December. It's something I like to do when I am alone, and that just hasn't been happening much.

Greg continues to recover from surgery. Everyday is a little better. And when he does have pain, it's an achy pain, not the nerve pain he was having before. His first outing was the office Christmas luncheon. He then went shopping 3 days in a row (probably his personal record), and insisted on washing the truck, w/Gregory's help last weekend. He went back to work Monday, and stayed til about 3. He claims he never heard the doctor say he could go for half days after 2 weeks - he claimed he said back to normal. Tuesday he went in but worked through lunch and just came home around 1:30. I doubt much work was going on in the office anyway. His office was closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and Fridays are always a half day.

Christmas Eve I made it to church for the 3:00 service. It's the only time of the year that we sing anything that could be called "traditional". I missed the usually pumped-up worship time, but enjoyed singing the traditional songs and really listening to the words, the meanings. We had hot chocolate and cider available on the way in/out. Yum. We also had communion, which we only do about 6 times a year. That is one thing I do miss from Catholic church. It was a special service and I was glad to have made it.

On the way there, I stopped at my friend Brandie's home. Her oldest son lives with his father, and he was visiting for the day. I hadn't seen him in several months, probably close to a year. He was as tall as me, and I had on heels!

Here's her family:


It was my intention for us to have gumbo for Christmas eve/day, but it just got too warm and muggy for it. I'll do that next cold spell. So we ended up having leftover buffet for Christmas Eve. We'd told Gregory he could open one present Christmas Eve. We had already let him open 2 gifts other evenings when he was begging. I like opening the presents gradually. I think the smaller gifts get to be appreciated that way, and it's not so overwhelming. But by Christmas Eve eve, he was really driving me batty asking things like what time on Christmas eve could he open the present, who decides what he opens, etc. I've never liked the placing of gifts to be opened much later under the tree. For the first several years, we didn't put any gifts out until a day or 2 before Christmas. This is the first year they went under the tree earlier, and it was torture for everyone. It just doesn't feel like the Christmas spirit to constantly be telling a child "no" about a gift. And, personally, if I've got a gift for you, I want you to open and enjoy it as soon as possible. I don't intend this to sound morbid, but what if I have a gift for someone and I'm waiting to give it to them, and one of us doesn't live to the magical day of opening. Time is precious, and no one is promised tomorrow. If you have a gift, a wish, or a thought, share it NOW!

Anyway, before I went to church I pulled Greg aside and asked if he would mind opening all the gifts that night. The waiting game was just making everyone miserable. He didn't mind. So after church, we had a quick leftover buffet for dinner, and then went riding to see Christmas lights. Gregory had opening a gift on his mind, so looking at lights wasn't high on his list, as you can see.


The Messenger family has decorated their home and both neighboring lots for over 40 years. Each year they add a new setting. Not all of them have withstood the test of time, but they have scenes on display from as early as 1964!















We then returned home and Gregory asked which present he could open. When I told him, "all of them", he asked several times if I was serious. So we had gift exchange at about 9PM Christmas Eve. I got a wonderful robe I've wanted for a while, a new printer/scanner, and a sandwich grill (from Gregory). Greg got a new gun (yuk), an electric razor from me, and a nice book about guns from Gregory. Gregory made it well known that all he wanted was an Xbox 360 Elite. He said he didn't mind waiting til after Christmas, and he would give us his Christmas money to help pay for it. I told that to my mom and she was so touched by his understanding that she gave me money she'd beeen making babysitting for a neighbor. So it was under the tree, along with the accessories and a game. He was so excited. He was just as excited to give Greg & I our gifts as he was to open his own.

Christmas day was very quiet. We'd all stayed up very late and slept in. We had breakfast for lunch, and Greg cooked some most excellent chicken breasts on the grill for dinner. All in all it was a great Christmas, Gregory says "best ever!" It was nice. And we still have several family members to celebrate with, so it's not over yet!




Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Halloween

Our Halloween started with a trip to the clinic for Greg to get his second steroid injection. Grgeory & I wore our halloween t-shirts, though Greg was a little uncomfortable wearing a grim reaper t-shirt to have a *procedure* done. :)

There's never been any trick-or-treating in our immediate neighborhood. For several years, we went with friends to a huge subdivision a few miles a way and hit the halloween jackpot. But the last 2 years, Greg didn't want to go. He's not into crowds. Two years ago we went with one friend to his grandfather's neighborhood. That was nice, because as we walked around, they knew everyone. It was like a huge block party. And after trick or treating, Greg & Jacy got to give out candy for a while. He really enjoyed that. Last year, we didn't make any plans ahead of time. Gregory really didn't want to go. That was the worst point of his *don't want to leave the house* period. He was quite glad when I told him that I had candy & he didn't have to go trick-or-treating just to get the candy.

This year, with all of Greg's back problems, we had nothing planned. My friend Brandie (with 5 kids) whom we usually had gone TrT with had no vehicle. So we decided Wednesday night that we'd put together a little Halloween party here. The kids were cool with it, as long as they got candy. So we made some witches brew punch, some mummy dogs (pigs in a blanket with mustard dots for eyes), snake sandwiches (sandwich in a rolled tortilla, sliced and shaped like a snake)& some monster toe cookies. We put up our spider webbing and our black lights and some halloween music. We bobbed for apples and had a pinata filled with much much candy. It was low key, but very fun.

In the end, Gregory decided not to wear a costume. He instead tried shaving and it went horribly wrong. :) He had more fun with that one dollar tube of theatrical blood!

"Mom, I hurt myself."

Nothing will stop you in your tracks like the sight of your child bleeding.

Yesterday, I had called my friend Brandie and told her I'd come over and help her get some clothes washed and dinner made & allow her to get a shower. I was leaving about 1:00, and Greg reminds me we are supposed to go to a birthday party at his office at 2:00 (free awesome food). So, okay, I'll go a little later than planned. I ran out for a quick errand, then came home to get ready. It was nearly 2:00, and I asked Gregory to put on a shirt from his closet (his *nicer* casual shirts). I was in the bathroom when I heard him say, "Mom, I hurt myself." I have NEVER heard that before. I go into his room and he has his hand to the side of his neck and there's blood just pouring down his hand and neck. I thought he'd stabbed himself in the neck with something. My first words were to Greg; "we may need to go to the ER." I have NEVER said that before. I asked, and he said he'd slipped on a blanket and hit his head on the doorjamb.

I got him into the bathroom and started cleaning him up to find the wound. It looked very small, but I realized I'd have to cut some hair to get to it. As I began to cut, I saw it was bigger than I originally thought (but not huge). The scissors weren't helping much, so I got Greg's clippers out. Gregory claimed to be in no pain, but it was awful (for me) to be using that machine so close to his open wound. It stopped bleeding pretty quickly and I decided it could be closed with butterfly strips. I found the ones I had, but they were so old... So off I go to get new strips. When I got back he was still doing well, playing the video game rental that he got in the mail. Back in the bathroom again, I cleaned up the little bit of blood that had dried on it, put Neosporin on it, and put 2 butterfly strips on it.



Not much later, the strips were beginning to fall off and Greg said it really needed to be shaved with a razor. And I thought using the clippers was disturbing! I never want to have to shave around a wound again! That was traumatic (for me!). Still through it all, he complained of no pain. He was a little mad about the blanket that made him slip (I do feel responsible for that. All of the blankets and sleeping bags from the slumber party are piled in the corner by his closet. It's a corner I don't see unless I am in his room, so I just don't think of it). And he was a bit concerned about how his hair would look. After the fact, he wanted me to shave the other side to match. My first reaction was "No", but if he asks again, I'll do it. It's his hair.

Thankfully, it's the back of his head, on the left side. He never saw me cutting, and the faces I was making while doing it. And it really won't show. There's enough hair left over it to cover the gap. He thought I was crazy for taking a picture, but he is a bit proud of his war wound.



He's in his room, yelling at the video game. All is well.
:)

Alex's Birthday

Alex will likely be the newest addition to our extended family. He is the son of my nephew's live-in girlfriend. (nothing complicated or anything, LOL!) Anyway, he's adorable, and he turned 5 this week. Plus it was a chance to see my niece and nephews and all of their babies, which is a rarity since my sisters are not speaking to each other (that's a long stupid story, so we'll skip it).

And then we stopped in to visit Stella too. She was wearing the crocs we got her as an infant. They were so big at the time compared to her tiny feet, I never dreamed she'd wear them this soon. Of course, at 9 months, they are just an accessory. She is very close to standing alone!


Oh, and the day began with Greg going to a job fair @ the Army Corps of Engineers office. I love the irony that their office is on Leake Ave! Anhoo, his cousin that works there was at the job fair and introduced him to a few key people. It almost sounds like it's just a matter of which job Greg wants! There's still a financial miracle needed for us to be able to move, but "signing bonuses" aren't unheard of. Also, they'll buy our house if it doesn't sell after 6 months. This could happen quickly! Or, it could take quite a while. Who knows. But it looks like we will be going,sooner or later.

Still celebrating

Yesterday we went to New Orleans to celebrate Greg's birthday with my sister and her granddaughter Kayla (almost 9). It was a beautiful day, and the kids got along well. They don't always, she can be very mean, and when prevoked, so can he. But when it's just the 2 of them, and most especially if they are outside, they get along pretty well. It was a nice day.

Video Game Blowout

My boy turned 10 last Tuesday, and Saturday night he had a slumber party. We made tickets for his all night video game blowout and sent to about 10 friends. We ended up with 7 boys, aged 7 - 12 who ALL made it to daylight! It was so fun to watch a few of them as they beat their record for staying up late. We had video games going in two rooms, sometimes 3, plus hand-helds-a-plenty. Everyone had a great time.

We started the day with a special visit from Stella and all my in-laws. It was her first time here.


Then friends started arriving later in the afternoon for cake and such.


Later in the evening, my nephew and his family brought Chase for the sleepover. It was Joey's first visit here too.


But Mikey's beginning to know his way around...


After all the grownups left, the blowout was on!




We did have one little girl here - Angelina. She's 4, and her 3 brother's were staying, so I said just let her stay. I really expected to have to bring her home late that night, but she did fine. She asked to call her mom around 11. She said, "I want to call her, but I don't want to go sleep there." After that, she started playing one of the games they had going in the living room, and winning. She was beating everyone. The boys were calling "Next!" over who'd play this 4 year old girl next.


Angelina was the only one to fall asleep, around 1:30. She played till she dropped.


I have to admit, around 4:30 I was giddy. I had made some coffee at about 3 AM, but that just made me wired and giddy. Greg was dozing now and again, but I stayed awake. It was rough, but I wasn't going to just arbitrarily make them shut it down so I could sleep. So I began awaiting sunrise. At sunrise, I could tell them they'd all officially stayed awake all night, and then send them off to Gregory's room to watch a DVD. And that's exactly what I did. I had already told Gregory what I was going to do, and he was okay with it since he wanted his friends to see his new Invader Zim DVDs anyway. By 5:30 I was staring outside praying to see the break of dawn. And it finally came around 6:15.


So I went around the house, gathering boys as the game rounds ended, then brought them all outside for a picture (not very good since I really couldn't see).


I then told them all that they'd officially made it, but I needed to sleep. I asked that they all go to Gregory's room, grab a pillow and a comfy spot and watch the new DVDs. I let them know they didn't have to sleep, but I wanted them to stay in his room (with the exception, of course, of needing the bathroom). It got quiet quickly, and I went to bed. What I didnt know was that Greg got up shortly after that and was occassionally peeking in on them. He tried to take a picture, but couldn't figure my camera out (eyes rolling). He said they were piled everywhere, like a pack of little wolves. Anyway, he said they all slept until at least 10. He let me sleep til 11. :)

Everyone was gone by about 2. I drove about 45 minutes away to meet my niece-in-law to return Chase. We had leftovers for dinner and all turned in about 9:00. Gregory was still awake when I fell asleep around 10:30, but barely. He slept until 12:40 Monday afternoon.

It was quite exhausting, I still feel *off*, but I am so glad we did it. And so thankful for friends who let us keep their kids up all night. All of these kids have bed times and game limits at home, and no one gave us any grief about doing this or asked us to do any limiting. My son had exactly the party he wanted and I couldn't be happier for him.